First Time Client Visit | #4

Today was the first time I went out to a client with my supervisor. We were going to this German small business owner. His office is 40 minutes’ drive away from our office. I asked if my supervisor must always drive this far to the clients. The answer was affirmative.

We got to the client’s office a bit earlier, he was not there yet, so I talked a little bit about the difference of insurance industry in the US and Germany. I have learned that the sales job in Insurance industry in Germany is not as easy as in the US. And the salespersons are sometimes looked down upon by other people because most people think the salespersons are annoying, when they try to sell the products to the clients. In the US, many people are required by law to purchase certain kinds of insurance if they are doing certain things. But in Germany only health insurance and auto insurance are required by law.

It was 10 minutes after our appointment time and the business owner was still not showing up so we decided to leave. And I was told it’s normal. I thought the Germans were very punctuate. But now I see otherwise. If you are trying to sell, the other party has the right to not show up. It’s the sadness in insurance industry, especially in sales.